Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced that it is hiring 70,000 full-time seasonal workers in its fulfillment centers across the United States to meet the growing demands of its customers. The e-commerce giant said its customer demands rose by 40% compared last year.
According to Amazon, thousands of the full-time, seasonal workers hired a year ago became full-time, regular employees after the holiday season, and the company is planning to do the same this year.
Amazon’s vice president of worldwide operations and customer service, Dave Clark said. “So far this year, we have converted more than 7,000 temporary employees in the U.S. into full-time, regular roles and we’re looking forward to converting thousands more after this holiday season. Each year, seasonal jobs lead to thousands of long-term, full-time roles in our sites—jobs that offer great pay, benefits starting on day one and the chance for employees to further their education through our Career Choice program.”
The e-commerce giant created more than 40,000 jobs in is its different business units across the country since the 2008 financial crisis.
The hiring plans of Amazon clearly indicate that it is preparing for strong sales this upcoming holiday season. Citi Research analyst Mark May noted that Amazon’s 40% growth rate in hiring full-time seasonal workers is better than Macy’s (NYSE:M) pace at 4% year-over-year. Macy’s recently announced that it will be hiring 83,000 seasonal workers.
Amazon did not yet provide its earnings or revenue guidance for the holiday season. However, May projected that the e-commerce giant will be able to achieve a 20% increase in retail sales in North America for the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, last year, Amazon recorded 21% growth rate in retail sales.
The analyst maintained its buy rating for the shares of Amazon with a price target of $340 per share. He pointed out that the e-commerce giant is one of the most impressive companies in the technology industry. Over the past 52-week range, the stock price of Amazon climbed from $218.18 to $321 per share. The stock closed at around $320.95 a share, up by 2.66% on Tuesday in New York.
